Pull the trigger, my love
by poopaw
Summary: It's Grayson vs Clarke – a battle started by their parents and one way or another, it will end with them. It's just a question of who will die first.
1. Chapter 1: Daniel Grayson

**Pull the trigger, my love**

by poopaw

(Disclaimer: I do not own Revenge)

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Daniel feels himself shaking, from his feet to his outstretched arm. The very same arm that wields a gun pointed right at the heart of his fiancé. They're on the beach where their first engagement party was held. He's dressed in a fine suit and she's dressed in a beautiful gown, her hair billowing with the salty wind. The sun has long settled and only the weak light of the moon illuminates them. Their sins hang in the air, thick with lies and deception.

How many times had he sided with his family? It was his family that has wronged so many, most especially the woman in front of him. And yet, time and time again, he had defended them in front of the world. He was bound by blood to protect them.

How many times had she lied? How many people has she condemned? All of the deaths and imprisonment brought about by a scorned little child. It was her family that was wronged but was revenge the only way? She was also bound by blood.

It was a beautiful tragedy played out in a beautiful forsaken land.

And now, here they were. Both of them are holding each other at gunpoint. Neither one is talking. His eyes settled directly on hers. He's never seen her eyes look so bright before. After all, he was the last nail on the Grayson Family coffin.

Death was her adrenaline.

"So, this is it huh," he whispers, the waves calmly colliding with the sand. The sea was absolutely calm. There was no violence between the ocean and the wind. They were on the eye of the storm. One gunshot and everything would come crashing down.

He watches her clench her teeth and steady her arm. "This is the last step."

"Everything was a lie. You used me as a pawn in a game I had no control over."

She laughs darkly and looks at him viciously. "No control? Daniel, you had every chance to avenge my father. You had every chance to give your family up."

He grips the gun tighter. He doesn't want to pull the trigger. He can't say the same for her, however. She's looking much angrier by the minute. "So you get to protect your family and I don't?"

"Your family is evil."

"You've killed. How is that any different?

"I killed people who were evil! Your family took out my father who had done nothing!"

"Murder is painted black and white, Emily," he spits out angrily. He feels betrayed because despite everything, he loves her. He's been in love with her for four years. Almost since the moment he's met her. And since then, she has never stopped lying. "A kill is a kill."

"Shut up!" she brings her arm higher. He feels it pointed directly on his heart. There was no doubt in his mind that she could hit the bull's-eye. He's seen her in the target range far too many times to doubt her skills. "I have to do this."

"Tell me this," he has to ask. He has to. "Did you plan to kill me from the start? Was I absolutely nothing to you? A mere pawn in the grand revenge of Amanda Clarke? Did you even care for me at all? Because I gave you my all, Emily. I gave you the good and I gave you the bad. You told me you loved me despite of it all!"

She closes her eyes but the gun never waivers. "Daniel," she whispers.

"Answer the goddamn question, Emily! One of us will die tonight and I'd like you to be honest for once!"

"I did. I loved you the first time. You were nothing I was familiar with. You were innocent and pure – absolutely beautiful in the middle of the ugliness your family was caught up in. You were a Grayson by blood, neither by values nor actions. For a moment, I thought that maybe you'd be the one to save me. That maybe after I've avenged my father, you'd save me from the viciousness that surrounds me."

His eyes watch her finger curl around the trigger. He does the same thing. Will she shoot him, knowing that he can very much do the same?

Her eyes open and she looks so determined. "But you changed. I lost you to them."

"I changed because you never gave me a chance not to. I was always in the dark. I could've helped you if you just told me."

"Would you have really turned your back?"

"I loved you!"

Emily stares right at him. "I never planned for you to die, Daniel."

He fires at the same time she does.

Daniel falls back rather slowly, if you ask him. It was as if time slowed down for this very moment. As he crumbles, he watches her. Her mouth opens and her eyes water. She drops the gun almost immediately. He thinks she looks beautiful – scared and vulnerable but also very proud of what she's done. He wants to congratulate her. She's finally finished her life mission. He wants to ask her what she'll do next. Will she stay in the Hamptons? Marry Jack? Or maybe it was Aiden? Has she even planned her life after revenge?

She wears a red gown, very much like what she wore to their first engagement party. It accentuates her lithe body. Her luscious hair frames her features in a way that leaves him quirking his mouth in the tiniest of smiles.

Daniel knows he could've hit the bullet directly on her chest as well. She knows that as well or she wouldn't have looked so shocked at the bullet flying a hair away from her arm. He had planned to kill her until the very last second, just before pulling the trigger. After all, he was a Grayson. If he's going down, he might as well take her with him.

But that's the thing. He loved her and he would've done anything for her. What she never tried to understand was how much he considered her as his family too – the best part. And everybody knows his allegiance will always side with his family. He hits the sand just as he closes his eyes, allowing the pain to dull the voices in his head.

If his death were the last piece to Emily's happiness, then he'd give it to her on a silver platter.

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Author's Note: There will be another chapter. It will be the same scene. But from Emily's perspective. Also, I advise listening to New York by Snow Patrol while reading. I played it over and over while writing this. What a beautiful song.


	2. Chapter 2: Emily Thorne

**Pull the trigger, my love**

by poopaw

(Disclaimer: I do not own Revenge)

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To avenge David Clarke was all Emily ever wanted – retribution for her father who was wronged by people far worse than he could ever hope to be. The two main villains in her story have finally crumbled. Victoria Grayson is dead – the woman who had allowed all wrongdoings to happen to the man she supposedly loved. Meanwhile, Conrad Grayson is on the verge of confession. With no queen and a disease looming around the corner, he has nothing left – well, almost nothing. He still has one.

The last nail on the Grayson Family coffin continues to stand. The king's last knight, the last piece standing in the way of her checkmate, happens to be her fiancé.

On the night of their rehearsal dinner, she slips out quietly. The festivities keep their guests occupied. Nobody notices her exit except for her lone knight. She knows he's watching her every move tonight – whether out of love or suspicion, she can't quite tell these days. However, she is leaning towards the former because after all, his eyes had never once waivered since they met a few years ago. What would change now?

"Emily," he calls out. She has her back facing him. She watches the ocean – quiet and steady. Her feet buried beneath the stand, steadying her stance. Would her life reflect the state of the sea after tonight? Once everything is over, would she finally grasp what piece of mind really is? A life without hidden agendas and buried anger, she wonders, how would that feel?

She doesn't' turn around. The weight of the gun strapped on her thigh cements her in place. She had done this time and time again. How many people had she shot? Butchered with an ax? Poisoned? Burnt to death? But with this one murder, she feels anxious. To face him now would mean having to look into eyes far more trusting and loving than she could ever handle.

_No. _How dare she second-guess herself now? He was merely nothing more than collateral damage. He might be a knight to the king but to her, he was never supposed to be more than a pawn. A sacrificial piece to achieve the bigger picture: justice for David Clarke, her father.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

The waves are slowly washing the sand back and forth. She closes her eyes and listens to the calming sounds. Her victory is just a corner away now. She just needs to focus.

"Not getting cold feet now, are you?" he jokes. When he receives no response, he grows somber. "Emily, look at me."

He was such a good person when she met him – full of light and hope. She was only supposed to break his heart. However, as the years progressed, she failed to control him. He spiraled under his own volition and became the one person he had once sworn her he would never be. A _Grayson_.

He takes a few steps. "Emily."

She opens her eyes, feeling her focus sharpen. He stands a few steps away from her now. Close enough to feel his aura surround hers.

"Ems?"

The hard contours of her gun press against her body. The cold metal clashes with her burning being, as if it were empowering her to finish the job. She takes a deep breath and finally –

"_Amanda_."

She turns immediately and stares at his eyes in shock. What is supposed to be a mirror full of love, hope, and adoration are now pools of betrayal, hurt, and mistrust.

* * *

They are holding each other at gunpoint now. She doesn't understand how this happened but nonetheless, only one of them will walk out alive tonight. How he came to discover her true identity is beyond her. He radiates anger now. His eyes reflect strength and fire. The instinct to survive is too strong to ignore now. Both of them stand tall, refusing to back away.

She has a mission to finish. She will not let her emotions get in the way. If disposing someone she had once loved is the remaining roadblock to the finish line, then she has no choice. Daniel stands before her in a suit that fits him much like a glove. It accentuates his broad shoulders and excellent physique. She has always admired how regal he stood, no matter the situation. A Grayson Family trait, it seems.

"So, this is it huh," he whispers. His arms are shaking.

Maybe if she hadn't had years of practice, she would shiver also. It was quite unnerving to see Daniel, her sweet and clueless lover, hold her at gunpoint.

"This is the last step," she mutters through clenched teeth. As much as she would love to, there was no time to investigate how he discovered her secrets. He would be of no trouble soon.

"Everything was a lie!" he spits out angrily. She watches fascinatedly as the veins on his neck protrude with every yell. He is truly beautiful – a product of the most blue of bloods. "You used me as a pawn in a game I had no control over."

She can't help but laugh rather viciously. It feels like a slap to her face to have him say such things.

"No control? Daniel, you had every chance to avenge my father."

She remembers a time when she allowed herself to imagine a future with him. She was willing to forget the ties that bind him to the sins of his heritage. But with a few words in an interview that could've easily saved the lives of so many, he managed to disintegrate all hope she had for him. She foolishly handed her trust to a man too weak to turn his back on evil.

Her stare is unwavering. "You had every chance to give your family up!"

"So you get to protect your family and I don't?"

"Your family is evil."

Does he even know all of his parents' sins? How many people have they murdered because of their never-ending greed? How many families have suffered and have fallen victim to the luxurious family housed safely in the largest home in the Hamptons?

"You've killed. How is that any different?"

No. He doesn't get to do this. He doesn't get to pull the innocent act as if what she had been doing was just as grave as what his family has done.

"I killed people who were evil!" she steadies her arm. It would not be wise to lose target simply because she couldn't keep her temper in check. "Your family took out my father who had done nothing!"

The mention of her sins and his family angers him thoroughly, she notices.

"Murder is painted black and white, Emily," he spits out. His voice is dripping of betrayal. "A kill is a kill."

"Shut up!" she brings her arm higher. She considers how one pull of her finger would end his life. She takes into account his weapon as well. While she was a much better shooter than he can ever hope to be, Daniel has been on the range since he was a child. It wouldn't be hard for him to hit bulls-eye.

"Tell me this," he breathes heavily. His voice sounds so raw. "Did you plan to kill me from the start? Was I absolutely nothing to you?"

It is no surprise that even in the end, Daniel wears his heart on his sleeve.

"A mere pawn in the grand revenge of Amanda Clarke?"

She slips her finger in and out of the trigger. It'll only take one swift motion to end this, she reminds herself. She doesn't have to listen to his ramblings. She doesn't have to understand how hurt he feels. She doesn't even have to acknowledge the weight of her heavy heart right now.

"Because I gave you my all, Emily. I gave you the good and I gave you the bad. You told me you loved me despite of it all!"

"Daniel," she whispers. She closes her eyes but the gun never waivers. This will be a murder she might never forgive herself for. This man has done nothing but love her.

"Answer the goddamn question, Emily! One of us will die tonight and I'd like you to be honest for once!"

"I did. I loved you the first time. You were nothing I was familiar with. You were innocent and pure – absolutely beautiful in the middle of the ugliness your family was caught up in. You were a Grayson by blood, neither by values nor actions. For a moment, I thought that maybe you'd be the one to save me. That maybe after I've avenged my father, you'd save me from the viciousness that surrounds me."

Their memories flash before her mind – both the good and the bad. It feels as if a hand is clenching and unclenching around her heart, making sure that she felt every painful pump of blood. She rests her finger on the trigger as an act of protection, to stop the pain that haunts her with every biting word he screams.

This is it.

She opens her eyes and narrows her gaze to his chest. She doesn't want to see his face when the bullet hits his chest. She _can't_ watch the life vanish from his eyes because of her hands.

"But you changed. I lost you to them."

"I changed because you never gave me a chance not to. I was always in the dark. I could've helped you if just told me."

"Would you have really turned your back?"

"I loved you!"

Emily gathers the courage and despite her better judgment, she stares into his bright eyes one last time. "I never planned for you to die, Daniel."

She fires at the same time he does.

Immediately, she feels a gush of wind pass by her arm. Had he –

No.

_No!_

He had purposely missed his target. Her mouth opens and against her will, her eyes start to water. Her gun falls silently on the sand. She wants nothing more than to collapse on the ground but attention focuses solely on her fiancé's fall from grace. The remaining knight of the chess game that he was unfortunately born into falls to the ground in the most pristine manner. The regality of his persona remains intact, even as death practically kisses him on the lips. His eyes remain open and she feels naked. She feels naked and bare in front of him. Just as before, his gaze never waivers.

They had fired at the very same millisecond. It would've been impossible for him to lose target. Despite all of her lies and deception, he had purposely shot a hair away from her body.

Because he loved her.

Emily sees the tiniest of smiles grace his face before he succumbs to the darkness. After that, her legs give in to the stress. Her knees collide with the hard and unwelcoming grains of sand. This was it. She killed him – her fiancé.

Once the news reaches Conrad, he will permanently fall from his throne and finally confess. Once and for all, he will speak of his sins. Deaths committed by their greed will finally be avenged. Wrongful accusations will be lifted from innocent names. Tears start to escape her eyes because it is _over_.

She watches with blurred vision how her gown brushes along the dark sand. Her hair falls down in locks, creating a protective barrier for her against the harsh whips of the salty and vicious wind. A bittersweet happiness surrounds her as she runs her hand along Daniel's chest. His blood stains her hand, the warmth of it engulfing her cold body. Her quiet tears later transform into unimaginably loud cries of grief and anguish, of happiness and victory, of pride and shame.

The reality hits her swiftly and violently: what was life _after_ revenge?

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A/N: I welcome any criticism you may have. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. May Jack Porter grow taller. Amen.


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